Down To Earth

Editorial. Sunita Narain.
X.XXXI.XIV

Ozone-smart,
climate-cool

by Sunita
Narain

One item on the agenda
of the much-discussed Narendra Modi-Barack Obama
meeting that has Indian commentators flummoxed is
hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs). The joint statement
issued after the meeting of the two heads of
states says rather ambiguously that the two sides
agreed to cooperate on “next steps to tackle
the challenge posed by HFCs to global
warming.”

HFC has been a bugbear
in the India-US relationship. The US wants to
begin negotiations for the phase-out of
HFC—a chemical used in a wide range of
industrial and household products like
refrigerators, air-conditioners and
solvents—under the UN’s Montreal
Protocol. India argues that the Montreal Protocol
is for protecting the world from ozone layer
depletion and HFC is harmful because it
contributes to climate change, so discussions
should take place under the UN’s climate
convention (UNFCCC).

imageIn fact, HFC is the
chemical that the world introduced to phase out
hydrochlorofluorocarbon (HCFC), an interim
substitute for chlorofluorocarbon (CFC). Both HCFC
and CFC were indicted for damaging the
stratospheric ozone layer that blocks harmful
ultraviolet rays.

Seemingly, the US is
driven by green concerns, as HFCs are greenhouse
gases 2,000 times more potent than carbon dioxide.
But the outcome depends on the alternative the
world chooses. When this chemical was introduced
it was understood that it would be bad for the
climate. The world decided to solve one problem by
creating another.

In the past decade, the
use of HFC has grown by 8-10 per cent annually,
mostly in the US, Europe, Japan and Australia. Now
developing countries will begin to phase out HCFC.
Should they first phase into HFC and then phase
out of it because it is bad for climate? Or should
they leapfrog to new substances, good for both
ozone and climate?

This is where the
politics of technology becomes murky. The same
companies that first invented CFC and then
profited from its phase-out are now ready with
another alternative. It is not a coincidence that
US companies DuPont and Honeywell are promoting
hydrofluoro-olefins (HFOs) for air-conditioning
and HFC-1234yf for car air-conditioning. But these
new generation chemicals are plagued with same
problems. HFO is good for ozone, has less global
warming potential but still not so good for
climate because it is energy-inefficient. Since
indirect emissions (due to energy use) from
appliances are responsible for over 80 per cent of
the problem, this chemical will add to climate
change.

But the commercial
interests are huge and powerful, hence the push to
move discussions to the Montreal Protocol, where
the US is a party and things can be expedited. The
Indian government’s position is equally
driven by commerce. Its four companies that made
ozone-depleting CFC got a windfall of US $82
million to move to HCFC. Now they want to be paid
for the next phase-out to HFC. Worse, they were
paid millions of dollars to reduce the greenhouse
gas emissions from HCFC plants under the climate
convention. It is, therefore, in their interest to
keep the negotiations under the Montreal Protocol
to phase into an ozone-friendly gas, which is bad
for climate.

The Modi-Obama joint
statement indicates a movement ahead by
recognising the need to use the Montreal Protocol
to reduce HFC and to continue to account under the
UNFCCC. This is good. Now the real work begins. It
is important for India to take a proactive
position. It should first get industrialised
countries to agree to an ambitious phase-out of
HFC by 2020, instead of 2035. Next, it should ask
for changes in the Montreal Protocol so that
countries can leapfrog the fluorinated chemicals
treadmill. Alternative technologies, rated on the
basis of their life-cycle energy emissions, are
available. For instance, some companies are moving
to hydrocarbons, such as propane and butane, for
refrigeration and air-conditioning. The US still
does not allow this shift, arguing inflammability
problems associated with these off-patented
technologies. This is what needs to be
changed.